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Scallops have a great texture and a delicate taste. The best way is to pan-fry the large white muscle à la meunière in butter. The orange-yellow "tongue" or coral can be deep fried, tempura-style. Both can be served with deep-fried aubergines "en fleur".
Price for large scallops: £1.50/shell (£12 for 8 scallops on 19/05/2010)
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| Large scallop |
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| Large white muscle (35g/muscle) |
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| Coral (25g/tongue) |
It easy to buy the large white muscle and the tongue ready prepared. If you have to keep the scallops for a day, buy them whole and keep them in the fridge in a moist newspaper.
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| For the batter |
Prepare the batter with 90g tempura batter mix, 100g water and 50g vodka. The vodka will permit you to have a lighter batter which will keep for longer without becoming starchy.
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| Fry the aubergines at 180ºC for 4 minutes |
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| Fry the tongues in (grapeseed) oil at 180ºC for 2 minutes |
Pan-fry also 6 sage leaves for 1 minute. You may also deep-fry a few of the scallops (to compare with the pan-fried ones). Keep the scallops, the aubergines and the sage on a plate covered with kitchen paper in a 60ºC oven before serving.
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| Pan-fry the scallops – sliced in 2 – in butter. Both sides |
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| Presentation |
Serve promptly.
Large scallops (pilgrim scallops, coquille Saint-Jacques in French) have 14-16 prominent ribs on the shell. They also have smaller relations which have more ribs like the queen scallop (~20 ribs) and variagated scallop (~30 ribs) (vaneau and pétoncle in French). The smaller scallops can be given a similar treatment.
The "mantle" or "frill" of the scallop is edible but very chewy unless cooked for a long time.
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